It’s been a quiet year in South Bridlington.
This was the year to re-read the books I read in the 6th Form (1959-61). I was then reading several books each week, so have missed a lot, but can definitely remember discovering GB Shaw, GK Chesterton and HG Wells. We kept a number of them and it is amazing how well they have stood the passage of time. Hilaire Belloc was a big disappointment, though. In 1961 The Path to Rome had given me the idea that I could cycle from Totnes to Manchester, sleeping rough. It would be cheaper than getting a train. I was going for an interview at the University, at which I carefully avoided any mention of my method of travel. It might prejudice them. On reflection, they ought to have been impressed. I discovered in 1961 that it was a rubbish idea – woods and fields are unbelievably noisy at night – and it was cold. In 2016 the book wasn’t even amusing.
Re-reading all those books rekindled my early love of the Cooperative Movement, so we have been spending the year finding how much the Coop has changed. You can’t even buy Coop shares now. The Story of the CWS published in 1913 was even more of a delight than the first time round. The early Pioneers were men of utter integrity and commitment. They all fell out with each other, of course, but working men combined to develop farms, a shipping industry, tea plantations, soap works, corset factories, a bank and Insurance business in the teeth of opposition from the Capitalists. There was no end to what people could do for each other if they set their minds to it. There was a cheerful optimism in 1913.
We continue to wander all over Bridlington each day. One of the pleasing things about living here is that visitors are already happy. They come for a break. They walk at leisure and smile. To encourage this sense of human cheerfulness we have adopted the policy begun in the 1940’s by Judy’s paternal grandmother when she took her to hospital appointments in Leeds. “Let’s see how many people we can make smile”. Maybe not something that any responsible adult would say to a little girl in 2016, but it caused a lot of mutual pleasure at the time. As we wander round the streets we specialize in the hard cases – people who start off looking miserable. As a consequence of this harmless practice we have found that an extraordinary number of strangers greet us each day. We may have seen them before, but neither of us can remember.
About which … neither of us is improving.
We had an interesting experience in September. Judy woke me up at about 02:30 and said that there was someone in the house. Sure enough, the downstairs light was on (it comes on automatically when someone moves) and a young woman in her late teens/early 20’s was in the hall
Me: What are you doing?
Young woman: I work here
Me: No you don’t
repeated about 3 times.
She seemed less than 100% sensible. After a bit of a pointless conversation she said “You can phone the police if you want”
“OK” … after a longer delay than I expected I spoke to someone, told them what was happening, and got the young woman to confirm that this was all true. She did. When I took the receiver again they said someone was already coming to the house. She then told me what her name was, which I immediately forgot. I asked again, she told me again, and I forgot again.
I asked her if she would like a cup of tea. At this point she must have doubted the wisdom of phoning the police, and started to go out of the front door. I noticed a shoe in the porch, called her back, and she put it on, and walked down the street away from the sea. Later we found a 2nd shoe she had missed.
When the police eventually came they weren’t hugely interested, asked whether we had left the front door unlocked, and after confirming there had been no break in, assumed that we must have done. It does happen.
Only later did I think about what I should have done (apart from locking the front door). That is, offer her a cup of tea immediately, get her to tell me the sad story of her life, and point her the way to righteousness. From her general bewildered appearance, I guess she had been consuming substances. That seems to be what young people do.
This business of having to remember to lock the doors is a bit of a problem
So … 2016 has been bewilderingly cheerful in spite of Other People’s dreadful mistakes. Like the referendum. We flew an EU flag and leafletted the streets in S Bridlington, but it didn’t make sufficient difference.
The cycle tour round the old Totnes, Buckfastleigh and Ashburton Circuit was spoilt by a front wheel spoke breaking while cycling across Widdecome Down. For the rest of the journey the front wheel wobbled against the brake. However, I met people who remembered me, and we laughed a lot.
Judy had a miserable time in a nursing home. She immediately forgot about the experience, but is willing to believe that she was not as happy as usual. If only Nurse Walsh of Wharfedale Children’s Hospital would go away as well.
Next year we are going on holiday together.
The Buss trip in August was another huge success. Thanks all of you.
David & Judy
2nd December 2016
jbrip 